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Climatic Adaptation of Boreal and Temperate Tree Species

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Boreal and Temperate Trees in a Changing Climate

Part of the book series: Biometeorology ((BIOMET))

Abstract

Boreal and temperate trees grow under climatic conditions in which the ambient air temperature displays pronounced seasonal variation. Unlike herbs and grasses, trees overwinter without a sheltering snow cover, so that they are exposed to all the harsh climatic conditions. That is why their climatic adaptation is based on their annual cycle of development, whereby the frost-hardy dormant phase and the susceptible growth phase are synchronised with the seasonality of the climate. The main aspects of this adaptive strategy of trees are briefly discussed, emphasising both the geographical and the year-to-year variation of the seasonal air temperature conditions. Many boreal and temperate tree species have large ranges of geographical distribution, so that their different provenances have adapted to the particular local climate prevailing at their native growing site. The extent of the geographical variation in air temperature crucial for this adaptation is highlighted by examining the climatic records of four locations within the European distribution range of Pinus sylvestris. The extent of the year-to-year variation is similarly highlighted by examining a 92-year climatic record from Jyväskylä, central Finland. In the coolest summer, the temperature sum in Jyväskylä was similar to the average temperature sum 600 km north of Jyväskylä; and in the warmest summer it was similar to the average temperature sum 600 km south of Jyväskylä. This limited analysis suffices to reveal the extent of the climatic year-to-year variation that trees need to acclimate to at their native growing site.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Throughout the present volume, the concept of adaptation is used for the genetic adjustment of the tree populations to their native environments, the adjustment being caused by natural selection working over evolutionary time scales. Correspondingly, the concept of acclimation is used for the physiological adjustment of individual trees to the environmental conditions prevailing at their growing site during their life cycle.

  2. 2.

    This essential concept is defined in Sect. 2.3, and its ecophysiological interpretation is discussed in Sect. 3.2.1.2.

  3. 3.

    In evolutionary terms, there is a trade-off involved in the life form of phanerophytes, i.e., trees have traded off the benefits of a sheltering snow cover in winter for superiority in the competition for light during the growing season. As freezing stress has a lot in common with drought stress at the cellular level, Larcher (1995) put forward the interesting hypothesis that the frost hardiness of plants has its evolutionary origin in drought hardiness.

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  1. Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Heikki Hänninen

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Hänninen, H. (2016). Climatic Adaptation of Boreal and Temperate Tree Species. In: Boreal and Temperate Trees in a Changing Climate. Biometeorology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7549-6_1

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